Twin Seeds
by The Exile
Summary: An alternative ending/explanation to JoD. Why do Will and Helen go into each other's dreams?


(note: NiGHTs is referred to as a 'he' in this story for convenience. I'm well aware that NiGHTs is genderless.)

Twin Seeds

"What'd you want to see me about?" asked NiGHTs, floating in mid-air in a reclined position, as if sitting on an invisible sofa. It better not be boring, he thought. He was already bored, just looking at Owl's squinty eyes and round glasses and the way he clicked his beak just before he went off on a long, droning lecture.

"Ah, well – hoo! - you see, its about the Visitors."

"The Visitors? You mean, Helen and Will?" asked NiGHTs. Right now, Helen was still wandering lost around Memory Forest and Will was tending to his Nightopian collection, so NiGHTs had some free time away from them. He had hoped to spend it flying around and playing his invisible flute, like he did every day, "They're not in danger, are they?"

"Well, you see – hoo! - I'm afraid I don't know. I don't know exactly what is happening in this situation at all, you see, because, well, it hasn't happened before!"

"Don't beat around the bush, old man, what's wrong with the Visitors?" demanded NiGHTs, his arms at his hips.

"They appear to be able to appear in each other's dreams!"

"WHAT?"

"I definitely saw them both coming out of the same dream door at once! Twice!"

"Are you sure one it wasn't a trick? Will wasn't just hiding near the door and popped out just as Helen came through the door?"

"NiGHTs, only you do things like that!" the old bird glared at him.

"Visitors can't go to each other's dreams!"

"It is possible that the dreams might... leak... if something is wrong with the dream gates. And what with all the problems in Nightopia lately, a few things have been breaking around here."

"Maybe a Nightmaren damaged the gates?"

"And what would you know about that, hmm?"

NiGHTs waved his hands desperately in front of him.

"No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I have nothing to do with it! Why would I do something like damage the dream gates? I have to come and go through those things all the time, you know! Maybe it was Reala..."

"In any case, I want you to help me look at all the gates, make sure they all work and repair the ones that don't."

"Aww, no, not work!" NiGHTs groaned and rubbed his head, but he followed the owl on his inspection of the first dream gate anyway, "Owl?"

"Hm?" the owl had taken a slide rule from out of his feathers and propped it on top of the gate.

"What if the gates aren't broken?"

"Then I'm afraid I have no idea."

"You should borrow Will's, he's got four."

"NiGHTs, don't try to pun. Nightmaren can't pun."

----

_I'm sorry, Helen..._

_I've been blind to it for so long..._

_I've been kept away from the truth for so long..._

_But now I realise what's been happening..._

_I know that I'm not alone!_

_I've never been alone!_

_That knowledge gives me the courage to go on!_

A twinkle of red light broke the absolute darkness of the roiling maelstrom, then, with a swish of air that broke the clouds, a figure flew out of the void and towards the city lights and freedom.

----

"You're wrong, Wizeman!" yelled NiGHTs to his malefic creator, hurling his elaborate wooden mask aside so that it fell down into the swirling void of darkness and was lost forever, "We aren't just your puppets! We can do things on our own! We have free will!"

"I have... free will!" echoed Helen, placing her hands on her heart.

_We have free will?_

_Yes, Will, we have free will._

_Ha. Will. Free will. Get it?_

_This is no time to joke!_

_Hey, Helen..._

_What?_

_If we have free will, we can finally break free of him, right?_

_I suppose you're right!_

_We don't need to be his puppets!_

_Agreed!_

_Just because he's oldest and he was here first, doesn't mean he can treat us like we aren't people and just use us for his own purposes!_

_You're right, Will! Let's go and tell him that as soon as this battle is over!_

_Assuming we survive..._

_Of course we'll survive! Both of us are here together! As long as there are at least two of us, we always survive! _

_Because if one goes down, the other one can pick them up again, right?_

_You've got the idea!  
_

-----

Will and Helen faced each other in the narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor was a tightly locked metal door that said, in an official font, SUPEREGO ROOM: NO UNAUTHORISED ACCESS.

"Do you want to go in first or shall I?" asked Helen.

Will smiled and knocked on the door. After a short pause, the door swung open and a face appeared.

"Oh, you two... you're up early... whaddayawant?"

He stretched and yawned. At that moment, Helen smacked him over the head with a baseball bat. He collapsed to the ground. Will set to work tying him up.

"Lock him in the basement with the Id!" said Helen.

"You do it! I wanna go in the control chair!"

"You'll have to give it me back later!" she warned him, "I've got a concert to go to!"

"I've got my football match!" he said, "Your concert is after my match! I need to be in control first!"

"As long as you promise to give it back."

"When have I ever lied to you?" asked Will. Then he grinned, "We did good work back in Nightopia, right?"

Helen nodded, "Shame about NiGHTs."

"You never know, he might come back again." said Will, "I don't think its true, what Wizeman said. That you have to go away when the person that creates you goes away."

They both looked thoughtfully at the prone figure of their primary personality on the floor.


End file.
